A New Day is Dawning...

Perhaps the title of this entry is too hopeful; too optimistic. Perhaps it is simply the calm before the storm that we are witnessing here in America. Maybe nothing has changed, and people are not moved by the possibilities of this election...not as much as I am as I sit here and reflect. Perhaps it is not a new day at all...but what if it is. What if we, all of us, are living in the midst of a dynamic change. Where the country could truly throw off the shackles of racism and second-class citizenship and see beyond yesterday-staring straight into the promise of tomorrow. What if a new day is dawning...and you are awaking to the sun?

Great Movie...no debate

I have heard the accolades from everyone that I know, my mom, my aunts, friends, etc etc. So tonight, I went to see it...the Great Debaters and well, I loved it. I know it was to many, highly predictable and all-too inspirational, but why is that bad. I am the first to say the African-American community has plenty of "realism", at least that is what a majority of the hip-hop music says it is-real. So why not provide the world with a more positive illustration of not only African-American triumph, but the beginning of American change and movement. This movie was and is a testament to the perserverance and tenacity of the human spirit. It is the cry for equality-while standing beside adversity. It is a call for change in how African-Americans look at themselves...for to not know your history is to deny yourself the true identity of your being.

If you have not seen the film, here is the link http://www.thegreatdebatersmovie.com/ so you can go on there, see some highlights and be inspired to take it in. With all that is wrong with Hollywood, and the negative images it portrays of African-American people (majority of the time), for all the bufoonery that shows up on the movie screen i.e. First Sunday (I won't even provide the link for this foolishness), The Great Debaters gives the community something to take pride in and cheer about. Literally, when the movie was over the crowd applauded-white, black, hispanic-applauded. That is for real.

In return, I applaud Denzel Washington and Oprah Winfrey. I have been hard on Oprah before, but in hindsight much of my criticsm has been unfounded. Regardless of that, this in my opinion is one of their finest hours. There are plenty of black folk in showbiz, shucking and jiving all over the place, but these two highly regarded professionals-icons really-have utilized their talent and wallets to put forth a piece of work that strikes pride in our people. Bravo!

Fast enough to slow down...

I have never been one to just do something because someone else was doing it...never a follower. Well, to be honest, I have followed before, but that was when I was younger; trying desperately to fit in. But since those isolated moments, I have not been one to follow the most prescribed way of doing anything. At times it was to my detriment-too many questions and no answers to satisfy my insatiable thirst to simply question...everything. But you cannot really do that when it comes to faith. I mean you can-but unless you truly understand the path to clarity then you will always question and never truly believe.

Faith is trust and reliance on God. The belief in the unseen. God, to most is an abstract concept because he cannot be touched, or seen or heard. He does not exist in the physical, but only in the spiritual sense of being. In this, what some may say is a conceptual framework, exists this all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful master of the universe. Therefore, faith, is man's connection to God. The question is then, how does one maintain their faith and move even closer to God? How can you better understand your purpose and truly gain insight to the divine rationale for your own existence?

Great books have been written on the subject, by the most annointed amongst us...but regardless of what any man or woman may say on the subject, faith and the intimate interaction with God is a personal experience. The Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther (not Dr. King either history buffs) put forth the concept of "the priesthood of all believers." This concept meant to me that the priesthood, which at one point was thought to be the only "direct connect" to God, was not simply a fraternity of men who studied the word and were ordained as priest in the Church. No, the priesthood of all believers meant to me that all men and women who believed in God had a direct connection to him-regardless of their status in the Church or even their status in society. God loves all, and all who profess their love for him may access the kingdom.

Now, that all is logical in the spiritual sense of the term (inside joke.) However, when this life we are living gives us ups and downs-high hi's and low lo's then we sometimes may question whether God is with us...even whether he is real at all. At these times we lose "faith" in all that we believe in. So again, the question is how do we maintain our faith and move closer to God? Well, I had heard of fasting before but I had never tried it...not honestly and not while trying to gain a deeper understanding of God. The glossary in the New International Version of the Bible says that fasting is abstinence from food or drink for a period of time, especially for spiritual reasons at a time of national crisis. But within the Bible it says,

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen;
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-
when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say:
Here am I.
NIV Isaiah 58:6-9

The passage above is very clear, that when you fast then there are direct benefits, and not in the way of getting something tangible, but more in the line of gaining an infinite understanding and deeper belief in the power of the Almighty Lord. I feel like it infers a sense of protection, that now, upon fasting, you have opened yourself to receive the Lord, by electing to sacrifice something totally in his Name, and from that sacrifice and openess you then receive God. It is in the receipt of God that you allow him to work more in your life, in your heart and in your mind. God is able to see your dedication to him, and your willingness to receive him when you deny yourself food or drink and in this he is pleased, and will be able to use you better in the divine order of things.

So, I decided to begin this journey-seeking out the Lord through prayer and fasting. My lady and I have agreed to make this a joint effort, to lend support to one another in meeting our individual goals with the fast and to also set forth unified goals to meet as partners in life. It is a very exciting time and I know that God is with us in journey and that he wants us to come closer to him. Today I was just talking to a good friend about the beauty of God, and how I was trying to improve my relationship with him and my friend hands me a book, entitled The Miracle Results of Fasting, by Dave Williams. It is a guide to assist you in a Christian fast...how awesome is God!

Well, I must retire at this point, but if you happen to read this, please be encouraged. God is trying to talk to you, but you have to be open to receiving him and allowing him to work in your life. Do not wait, for tomorrow or for when you get your life "in order" as that day may never come. Why? Because you need the Lord to assist you. We are nothing without God...mortals trying to fulfill the urges of the flesh. Life can be lived more abundantly...but you must humble yourself before the Lord...what is so wrong with that? But I do not want to preach, just something to think about. Stay tuned...for the journey has just begun.

He speaks to me
even when I fail to hear
He is here
near to my heart and mind
my soul filled with
his presence
yet I am hesitant to accept
the emotion
born from his whispers
calling me to aid
in this battle
we losing human beings
who no longer seeing
a better way
confused by the world and
pleasures of the flesh
abused by their own sins
and the lust of success
I profess that the worst is yet
to come
but our children numb to death
and their values
eroding faster than they growing
but yet
He speaks to me
even when I fail to hear
he is here
nailed upon the cross
his loss was to be
our gain
his pain for
our progress
but I guess it aint
nobody listening
like we all missing the point
of the tsunami's and hurricanes
floods from torrential rain
and the fire
in the streets of Babylon
maybe we hesistant to accept
the emotion born
from his whispers
or maybe we just deaf
to our own demise
still I swear he speaks to me
guess I need to listen
Go out amongst the people
and tell them of the times
and pray
they are less
hard of
hearing than I
pray
they are less
hard of
hearing...
than I
Copyright Rush Taper 2008

2008

A new year...yeah, I could have written on the first day, but why? Everyone starts something on the first day, so I wanted to start on the 7th, but here, on the 8th day of 2008 I struggle to put words and thoughts together-stir them like a flavorful beverage for the "of age" and pour them out across cyberspace for any and all to sample. 2008...how many human beings will ask themselves the most common start of the year question- "What will become of this Year-for me?"...or some variation thereof. Basically, what does this new year hold? We want to know, but not really. The new year is the final Christmas gift, that you open every day for another 365 days...never quite knowing just what it might be-perhaps having an idea, but each day the present could be a surprise.

Maybe that is why Christmas was placed right next to the New Year, in our oh so conveniant Roman calendar. You may escape God on Christmas, by taking Christ out with your bevy of expensive gifts and shopping mall attitudes, but you must reckon with your past sins and deal with the possibility of a new beginning on the New Year...some may say whatever, but most of you to include myself, think of some type of change come January 1st. Some sort of resolution we, deep in our hearts desperately wish to hold on to. The New Year brings forth reflection and evaluation...and at times repentance and the quest for forgiveness. Still, by February, most of that newness of renewal of virtue and all that jazz has faded from our short term memory and many-to in the past include myself-are back to being the same person we were prior to the resolutions. But there is always next year, right?

Maybe, and maybe not. Still, this year, 2008...well, I want to try and stick to some of that which I told myself. I want to complete some chapters in my life and possibly become the man that I have been putting off. The man I have been putting off. Think of that. I have been, like many, procrastinating with regard to becoming the best I can be in life. Acting as if what I have been giving, to myself no less, was enough. Like saving the best of me, for later...but later has no date, no time stamp, no actual address or destination point. Later is simply that. Not now but sometime in the not so distant unpromised tomorrow. 2008, I want to do better. Work toward that man...the guy I see myself as. The man I long to be.

I know all this may sound like much of the conversation that has gone on in your own head, or some melodramatic movie that played over the holidays-a Christmas Carol comes to mind, but it comes a time in a man's life when he must make decisions about his future. I mean a woman must too, so in a human's life...but there does. It is like I see people younger than me who have life by its reigns and who seem totally in control of their future...their destiny tied entirely to the desires of their heart and mind. Then there are the other millions of us who plod along the path of existence merely existing. Alive, but our spirits are dead...souls without a song.

So I testify here, before the entire free world that I...well, I begin the revolution today. The revolution to take charge of my life, and to encourage others to do the same. It does not have to be alot, just do something this week that is of your heart's desire...anything, and enjoy yourself. Live, if only for a minute and escape the mundane. You are truly all that you wish and think you can be...allow yourself to cast off fear and exercise a bit of those dreams locked up in the cavities of your mind. Be more human...and then, by next year this entry will be pointless. You may come back to it and say it means nothing...for everyday is to be lived as if it were the last one here. In 2008, make no excuses...just live. As for me, well, I will keep you posted on my new adventures oh so frequently...peace and happy new year.